"24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind."
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
As we leave the earlier verses, we should perhaps note the telltale evidence of malaise in what is said in 23, 'his heart taketh not rest in the night'. One might well think of that unhappy young man lying in bed one night, unable to sleep, with a great desolation enveloping him. He would know exactly what the Preacher's words meant!
These verses at the end of the chapter bring a momentary flash of something else, an alternative possibility. It will be seen from the analysis sheet (see Note Pg 4) that this is the first answer 'from the other side', so to speak, with the message 'Take life day by day, from God, and glorify Him in ordinary things'. We must be careful, however, that we do not misinterpret what is said in 24, for this is not to be taken in a bad sense, nor is there any note of 'let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die' in what is said. Rather, we are to understand that it is possible to live ordinary, daily life and extract from it that which can bless and cheer and comfort and content the heart. The Preacher is not referring to complete contentment or satisfaction in this life, for there is no such thing; the best is yet to be for those who believe in Christ. But the secret of true contentment here is to be happy with incomplete satisfaction and fulfilment, in the hope and assurance of lasting satisfaction and fulfilment in the life to come. Here is a glimpse of another way of life indeed, which is echoed and made explicit in the New Testament. And we shall look at that teaching more fully in the next Note.